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NCR Today

Robert Wilson, an investor-turned-philanthropist, is an atheist. However, he loves to invest in underpriced opportunities. So a few years' back he donated $20 million to a fund that supports the Archdiocese of New York's Catholic schools.

Lord Palmerston, the 19th century British Prime Minister, famously said that in politics there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Benedict XVI would probably concur on the strength of his experience in Madrid the last few days, where liberal and secular currents in Spanish society have voiced outrage over the blatantly pro-papal line emanating from -- of all places -- the government of Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodr'guez Zapatero.

My Queen! My Mother! I give myself entirely to thee; and to show my devotion to thee, I consecrate to this this day my eyes, my ears, my mouth, my heart, my whole being, without reserve. Wherefore, good Mother, as I am thine own, keep me, guard me, as thy property and possession.

Members of Georgetown University’s basketball team held a make-up session with the Chinese military team, the Bayi Rockets, one day after their chair-throwing, on-court brawl led to an abrupt end to their “friendly” exhibition game and prompted an online outpouring of disgust by Chinese fans.

A statement on the Georgetown team’s Web site said the two sides met Friday morning following “heated exchanges in an exhibition game Thursday evening.” The statement said Georgetown Coach John Thompson III and Bayi Coach Adi Jiang and their team members “shared a very cordial and friendly meeting.”

If there is any clear mandate in Christianity, it is the call to care for our planet, for the natural world that God has entrusted to us. But for decades now, scientists have been warning us about the dangers of climate change, and the fact that human activity is the major cause of it. It is a consensus endorsed even by the Vatican.

Enter Rick Perry. He announced on the campaign trail that he does not believe that climate change is caused by human action. I’m not sure what planet he is living on, but he seems to have missed the entire scientific consensus on this issue.

Just think. What sort of military do we need to defend our borders? Tanks, aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines are particularly ineffective against terrorists. Nuclear weapons use would turn global warming into a nuclear winter which won’t solve anything. The oceans and the sheer size of the nation are effective deterrents to invasion.

If we started the Department of Defense off at zero, imagine where you would put the money.

Myself, I would spend a bundle on information gathering – spying, if you like. And then I’d spend three bundles addressing the needs the spies uncovered: nation-building, job creation, trade opportunities.

But even for me, it is difficult to say: disband the DOD; toss the guns; pitch the nukes; bring the boys home. People would say, that’s crazy talk. But what is crazy, what is true mental illness, is the stockpile of nuclear weapons; the continued building of newer fighter planes designed to dogfight with Russia MIGs; the plans for new aircraft carriers to deploy the fighters. I could go on.

Early this week in the Guardian, Lesley Crawley offers a comparison of the sexism she faced as an engineer and the sexism she now faces as a priest in the Church of England.

Crawley describes enduring catcalls, lewd gestures, and blatant displays of pornography by her male co-workers in the factory where she was an engineer. She writes:

Although these events were difficult, it was possible to manage well as a woman in the secular workplace, because the structures were not sexist. So I knew that the law of the land entitled me to work as an engineer, and that the procedures of our company demanded equality. Furthermore, almost all of the managers, and especially the managing director, were enthusiastically committed to equality. . . .